Means for moving the drive-shafts of steam-engines from dead-centers



S. E. MANNING. MEANS FOR MOVING THE DRIVE'SHAFTS OESTEAM ENGINES FROMDEAD CENTERS.

APPLICATION FILED Aue.21, 1920.

. 1 39Q,536, PatentedSept. 13, 1921.

,2 SHEETSSHEET I.

i INVENTORN BY w . ATTORNEY.

I S. E. MANNING. MEANSFOR MOVING THE DRIVE SHAFTS'OF STEAM ENGINES FROMDEAD CENTERS.

' APPLICATION FILED AUG.2I, 1920.

1,390,536. PatentedSept. 13,1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

PATEN 'snNroRn E. MANNING, or wns'r COLUMBIA, TEXAS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

jPatent e'd Sept; 13 1921.

Applicationfiled August '21, .1920. 'Serial No. 405,138..

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, SANFORD E. MANNING, a citizen, of the UnitedStates, residing at West Columbia, Brazoria county, Texas, have inventeda certain'new and useful Improvement in Means for Moving the Drive-Shafts of Steam-Engines from Dead-Centers, of which the following is afull, clear,

and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the arttowhich it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in means for moving the driveshaft of steam engines from dead center. This device is particularlyadapted for use on engines in oil field work, but is obviously capableof wide application, and is not, therefore, confined to thisparticularuse.

In the oil field mark where the laborers are usually engaged in workupon the derrick platform, it is customary to placethe engine in aposition spaced somewhat to one side of the derrick. In the operation ofthe drill or of the cable it is frequently necessary to stop and startthe engine in the progress of the work. It is found that the engine willsometimes stop on dead "center, that is the cross head pin, the crankpin and the crank shaft will be in alinement so that when the steam isturned on to start the engine no movement of thepower shaft willresult.' To draw the parts off dead center it is usually necessary forone of the men to leave-the platform, go to the engine and, by rotatingthe fly wheel, turn the shaft until the'parts are no longer inalinement. Th1s operation takes time during which the drilling crew isstanding idle.

The object of my invention is to provide a device whereby the crankshaft of the engine may be moved from dead center and such operation maybe performed from a distance by the simple manipulation of a leversituated on the derrick platform or at some convenient position.

Another object 'is to provide a device of the kind described which willbe simple and durable in construction, easy to operate and not liable toget out of orders .In the drawing herewith, constituting a partof thisspecification,'a preferred em bodiment ofmy invention is shown. Figure 1is a side view showing the shaft of the engine in transverse sectionwith my improvement applied thereto, Fig; 2 is'a broken view inelevation showing my device applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a view of thelever used in operating my device. Fig. 4 is a modified form thereof.Fig. 5 is aside elevation of the lever used in connection with my deviceand Fig. 6 is a side elevationrof amodified form of my improvement. l

T emcee MEA S FOR MOVING THE DRIVE-SHAF'IS or STEAM-ENGINES rnoivrDEAD-CENTERS,

My device is designed as an attachment for the power shaft of theengine, whereby the said shaft may be rotated by means of a leversltuatedat some convenient. point at a distance from the said powershaft. In accomplishing this purpose, I contemplate placing upon a'power shaft 1 of an engine, and closely adjacent the fly wheel 2thereof, a ratchet wheel 3, said ratchet wheel having teeth 4 thereon,one sideof which is radial and the other side forming an angle of about45 to the first mentioned side. The ratchet wheel has a laterallyextending hub 5 thereon,'said hub cured non-rotatably on said shaft 1 bymeans of a key 6. l

Seated rotatably upon the said hub 5 of the ratchet wheel is placed alever or arm 7, said lever havin at the pivoting end thereof a ring 8adapted to fit slidably over the end of the huband to be rotatablethereon. The arm of the lever 7 extends upwardly from said engine shaft,preferably at an angle from the vertical. Said arm has, at a suitablepoint thereon, alpivoted pawl 9 secured to the said arm at10. This pawlhas a sharp downwardly presented pointwhich is adapted to fit betweentwo adjacent teeth 4 upon the ratchet wheel. The opposite end of thepawl 9 is extended beyond the lever arm 7 and is provided with anopening therein for attachment of a. cable 25 to be later described.Spaced upwardly from the said pawl is a supporting member 11. Thissupport constitutes a strap of metal project and ratchet wheel se-' Thelever 7 is operated by means ofa bular connecting bar 14. Said bar issecured at one end to the lever 7 by means of a yoke 15, said yoke beingthreaded upon the end of the tubular bar and having two laterallyprojecting arms thereon which are formed to straddle the end of thelever 7 and to be secured pivotally thereto by means of a pin 16. Theopposite end of the tubular bar 14 has a similar yoke 17 thereon, whichis pivoted by means I lever 19 approximately midway of said lever. Theupper face of the tubular bar it, at a point spaced somewhat from thelever 19, is provided with an upwardly extending nipple 20, in the lowerportion of which is pivoted a pulley or roller 21.

Spaced somewhat from the upper endof the lever 19 is a short releasinglever 22 pivoted at 23 to the operating lever 19. On the lower face ofsaid releasing lever is secured at 24 the operating cable 25. Said cablepasses downwardly through the open end of the nipple 20, around thepulley'21, and longitudinally through the tubular operating bar 1 andaround a roller 26 in the upper end of the lever 7 From thence it passesdownwardly for attachment to the pawl 9, as previously indicated. Itwill thus be noted that the tightening of the cable 25 will act to drawthe pawl9 downwardly against the action of the spring 12. The lever 19is ordinarily placed upon the edge of the derrick platform, to which itis pivoted by means of a bolt or pin 28.

In Fig. I have shown a slightly different arrangement of the operatingmeans for the pawl 9. In this modification the pawl is not extendedbeyond'the arm 7 of the lever, but in place thereof the supportingmember 11 is extended on the opposite side of the said lever 7 toprovide a support for a roller 13. Another similar roller 27 is pivotedon the lever arm 7 at a'point below the pawl 9. The lower edge of thepawl 9 is perforated to provide an attachment for the cable 25. In thisarrangement the cable acts directly to draw'the pawl 9 down against theaction of the spring 12 and when the pull upon the cable is released thepawl 9 will be drawn upwardly by the spring.

It is contemplated that other operating means may be used besides thelever 19 and in Fig. 4 another operating means is shown. To the outerend of the tubular bar 14 is secured a stirrup, 29, having at theextremity thereof a handle 30, between the two arms of the stirrup.Spaced between the arms of the stirrup and inwardly from the handle 30is a slidable bar 31, to the central point of which is secured the cable25.

The operation of my device will now be clearly understood. When theshaft of the engine stops with the parts on dead center, the operator onthe derrick platform will grasp the lever 19, hisfingers gripping aboutthe releasing lever 22. By the closing of his fingers upon the lever thereleasing lever will be drawn up, -thus pulling the cable so as todrawthe pawl 9 downwardly into of a pin 18 to an operating cooperation withthe ratchetteeth 4 upon the ratchet wheel. A further pull upon the lever19 will draw the connecting bar 1 L so as to throw the lever 7 towardthe operator. The pawl 9, beingin contact with the ratchet teeth, willthrow the shaft over toward the operator, thus throwing the parts fromdead center and allowing the shaft to be rotated. It is obvious that'asthe shaft begins to rotate under the impulse of the engine the pawl 9will be drawn-out fromits contact with the teeth t and the operator, byreleasing'the cable 25, through the releasing'lever 22,will allow thepawl to be drawn up out of operative position. The lever 19 may then bethrown forwardly out of the way'and will be ready for use at any futuretime.

If the operating lever shown in Fig. 4 is used, the; operator, ingrasping the handle 3. will seize also the slidable'bar 31, drawing ittoward the operating handle 30, thus-withdrawing the cable 25 andoperating to draw the pawl 9 into operative position and a further pullupon the handle will draw the lever 7 so as-torotate the shaft 1.

In Fig. 6 T have shown a modified form of my device, in which the partsare somewhat simpler than in the preceding embodiment, but the operationthereof conforms in general principle to that just described. In thisembodiment the lever or arm 7 is journaled upon the hub 5 of the wheel,as previously shown, but a bushing 32is inclu'dedbetween the ring 8 andthe hub 5 to form a better bearing upon which the lever may turn. Thepart-of the ring 8 opposite the lever 7" is extended downwardly to forman arm which is limited in its movement laterally by means of a stopmember 34, which is secured to some convenient support by means of pinsmember 34 has two upwardly projecting arms 86 against which the arm 33of the lever is adaptedto contact at the extreme points in the movementthereof. j

The pawl 9 in this modificationis pivoted at 10 toward the upper endofthe lever arm 7 and has a backwardly extending lug 37 on the upper facethereof, said lug being adapted to contact with a laterally extendinglug 88 on the upper end of the lever arm 7 when the pawl is ininoperative position. The pawl 9 on the side of the lever opposite thepoint thereof has an upwardly extending arm 39, having a pin 40 on thesaid upper end, to which the rod 1ft is pivoted.

The said rod 14; connects the operating arm 39 of the pawl with thelever 19 pivoted at 28 on the derrick platform. This lever 19 has alaterally extending lug thereon, to which is pivoted at 18' the otherend of the rod 14. The lever 19' has, below the attaching point 18thereof, an openingtl therein through which the'upper end of a spiralspring42 issecured; The lower end The stop of the said spring 42 issecured to a staple 43, which is anchored in some convenient supportadjacent the derrick platform. The

spring 42 is under tension and tends to throw the lever 19 to the left,as shownin Fig. 6.

In the operation of this embodiment the' lever 19 on being released willbe thrown by the spring to the left and thereby throws the upper arm 39of the pawlalso to the left, bringing the lug 37 into contact with thelever arm 7 and throwing said lever to the left and releasing the pawl 9from the ratchet wheel. The lever arm 7. will be thrown to the leftuntil the lower arm 33 contacts with the stop arm 36, thus leaving thepawl 9 out of contact with the ratchet wheel. When it is desired torotate the ratchet wheel and the shaft 1 upon which it is fixed, thelever 19 will be thrown to the right, thus throwing the pawl 9' intocontact with the ratchet wheel and the movement of the lever arm 19 willthen rotate the ratchet wheel sufliciently to throw the parts from deadcenter. It is contemplated that the le ver arm 19 can be thrown totheright until the arm 33 of the lever 7 will contact with the oppositestop arm 36. This will be sufiicient to accomplish the object ofstarting the engine. The lever 7 may then be released and the springwill draw it to the left until the lever arm 33 of the lever 7 contactswith the forward stop arm 36, thus holding the pawl 9 in inoperativeposition.

It is apparent that with the use of this device a great saving in timewill result, as the engine may be started by simply pulling upon thelever directly from the derrick platform and thus obviating thenecessity of the laborer going from the derrick to the engine to throwthe same from dead center.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:-

1. A device of the kind described comprising a power shaft, a ratchetwheel keyed thereon, a laterally projecting hub on said ratchet wheel, alever pivoted on said hub and rotatable independently of said wheel, apawl pivoted on said lever and held normally out of contact with saidratchet wheel, a tubular connecting bar secured at one end of saidlever, an operating lever secured to the other end of said connectingbar, a pivoted releasing lever on said operating'lever and a cableconnecting said pawl with said releasing lever to force said pawl intocooperation with said ratchet wheel.

2. A device of the character described comprising a power shaft, aratchet wheel keyed thereon, a lever pivoted about said shaft adjacentsaid wheel, a pawl pivoted on said lever and held normally out ofcontact with said ratchet wheel, a tubular connecting bar secured tosaid lever, an operating lever secured to said bar, a releasing leverand a cable connecting said pawl with said releasing lever and acting toforce said pawl into cooperation with'said ratchet wheel.

, 3. A device of the character described comprising a power shaft, aratchet wheel keyed thereon, a lever adjacent said ratchet wheel androtatable-independently thereof, means on said lever to engage saidwheel, an operating lever, a tubular bar connecting'said operating leverwith said first named lever, and means on said operating lever toactuate said ratchet-wheel-engaging means in the manner described. v A

4. A device of the character described comprising a power shaft, aratchet wheel keyed thereon, a lever adjacent thereto, a pawl on saidlever, means to. hold said pawl normally out of contact with saidratchet wheel, an operating lever, means connecting said operating leverwith said first named lever, and means on said operating lever to forcesaid pawl into engagement with said ratchet wheel, whereby said wheelmay be rotated.

5. A device of the character described comprising a power shaft, aratchet wheel fixed on said shaft, a lever adjacent said wheel,

an operating lever spaced from said shaft,

a rigid means connecting said operating lever with said first namedlever, whereby the latter may be thrown either backward or forward andmeans to connect said first named lever with said ratchet wheel andoperable from said operating lever.

6. A device of the character described comprising a power shaft, aratchet wheel fixed thereon, a lever adjacent said wheel,a connectingbar pivoted to the outer end of said lever, means to move said bar andoperate said lever, in both backward and forward directions, and meansto connect said ratchet wheel and said lever operable independently ofsaid lever operating means.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature, this the 2nd day ofAugust, A. D.,

